The second story, by contrast, appears to be smaller potatoes: right-wing loud mouth Jay Severin, in a broadcast more obnoxious than usual, said things on air that forced his traditionally indulgent corporate enablers at WTKK to suspend him — though, as the Phoenix went to press, the question of for how long remained unanswered.

The fate of the Globe is of historic importance. But the questions raised by the Severin incident have a philosophical and moral resonance that has been touched upon only in passing.

Severin got himself in hot water for speaking derisively about Mexicans, who he said were "the world's lowest of primitives." Even by Severin's odious standards, this was especially ripe.

In the course of his jeremiad against Mexicans, Severin raged widely. As far as the Phoenix is concerned, the most reprehensible of Severin's many loathsome remarks was this: "So now, in addition to venereal disease and the other leading exports of Mexico — women with mustaches and VD — now we have swine flu."

He also said this: "We [the US] are the magnet for primitives around the world — and it's not the primitives' fault, by the way, I'm not blaming them for being primitives. I'm merely observing they're primitive."

And this: "Millions of leeches from a primitive country come here to leech off you and, with it, they are ruining the schools, the hospitals, and a lot of life in America."

And this: "We should be, if anything, surprised that Mexico has not visited upon us poxes of more various and serious types already, considering the number of 'criminaliens' already here."

This is strong, and offensive, stuff. Even in the midst of a serious debate about the future of United State's immigration policy — an important topic in which emotions sometime run hot — it is, or should be, unacceptable.

Severin was being more than an advocate for his anti-immigrant point of view, more than provocative, more than even incendiary. In our opinion, he was being hateful, trying to deny the basic humanity of Mexicans so as to render them unworthy of being afforded rights.

Hate speech may give offense to some; it might be impolite, even impolitic, but it is not illegal. The Phoenix is close to being absolute in its defense of anyone's right to say, write, or broadcast almost anything. This paper affirms Severin's constitutional right to say what he said. Likewise, we recognize WTKK's right to broadcast Severin if the station so wishes.

Still, WTKK should think twice about putting Severin back on the air. Does Severin's right to hold noxious opinions, and his parallel right to express them using intemperate language, override the station's right to hold itself to a higher standard?

If WTKK thinks about the situation with any depth of conscience, it might realize that, though it profits handsomely from Severin, his on-air presence does nothing to enrich or elevate public debate.

Should WTKK management have any doubts on this matter, we suggest it compare Severin's remarks about Mexicans with what Adolf Hitler wrote about Jews in Mein Kampf.

WPRO swaps two big personalities Talk-radio listeners could be forgiven for wondering if WPRO sprung a bit too far forward this week when Buddy Cianci's show begun airing at 2 pm instead of the usual 10 am.

The tax man speaketh I agree that we need to take a long, hard look at what we value in our state — healthy air and water, good schools, roads, safety — and figure out how we’re going to pay for it!

Art appreciation The recent Phoenix editorial on state-government funding for arts and culture highlighted many of the challenges we face as we try to meet our aspirations as a community amidst a very difficult economic environment.

How's Obama doing? Politics, an old cliché holds, is the art of the possible. Achieving the possible is a matter of power. And in a media-saturated democracy, power flows to those with good poll numbers.

Father Feeney Leonard Feeney, a defrocked Jesuit priest and pretty much of a legend in this city as a result of the “sermons” he preached on the Common every Sunday without fail for eight years, from 1949 to 1957, attracting sometimes as many as a thousand people to heckle and to laugh as much as to listen—Father Leonard Feeney is in the news again.

Intentions gone south Erica Corsano’s bigotry overrides some of the interesting things one might actually take away from reading her article about South Boston.

How is Obama doing? In response to a question from Oprah Winfrey about how he would grade his time in office, President Barack Obama gave himself a "solid B-plus."

Impeach John Roberts It is time for an enterprising and courageous member of the US House of Representatives to file articles of impeachment against the chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, John Roberts. The charge: lying under oath.

Where's the outrage? Holy hell broke loose six months ago when a self-appointed truth squad sponsored by a right-wing propagandist broadcast an Internet video that appeared to show African-American employees of ACORN counseling a white pimp and his equally Caucasian hooker on how to dodge a variety of laws.

MERCY AND SAL DIMASI | March 13, 2013 When it comes to showing a modicum of mercy to some of those convicted of federal crimes, Barack Obama is shaping up to have the worst track record of any president in recent memory.

NEXT, MARRIAGE EQUALITY | March 05, 2013 On March 27 and 28, the US Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in two cases that could essentially put America on the road to full marriage equality.

THUS SPAKE MARKEY | February 26, 2013 Last week, Congressman Ed Markey inadvertently injected some daring political thinking and a touch of historical imagination into the race to fill the US Senate seat vacated by John Kerry's appointment as secretary of state.

DRONES: 10 THOUGHTS | February 20, 2013 Foreign drone attacks are almost (but not quite yet) as American as apple pie.